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Luiz Felipe Scolari might well have been told he won’t be getting any money for the January sales but that’s not going to stop him doing a bit of window shopping in the meantime by the sounds of it, and he’s every right to because Chelsea are definitely missing something.

According to Scolari, the missing ingredient in the Chelsea mix is “an organiser who can get hold of the ball, get forward and energise our front line. I just have players who work on the ball. Deco, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard can all shoot. But I don’t have a player who can dribble with the ball. I don’t have that type of player in my squad.” Naming no names of course, although you don’t have to be a genius to work out how much he thinks missing out on Robinho has cost us.

Clearly frustrated, Scolari suggests “When we are at home our opponents close up at the back, with lots of men behind the ball. That makes it immensely difficult when you don’t have an organiser in your team. It is different when we play away. The home sides play a more open game, and as there is room to move we can use our pace to get in behind them.”

Here comes the clever bit though, because in an effort to either distance himself from any blame, exert a little subtle pressure on the Chelsea coffers, or both, Scolari says “But as I’m not being given money to spend on signings, what am I going to do? We will try to make some changes in our next games, and test out other things.”

Mind you, keeping the press onside whilst making sure it’s not misconstrued as a pop at Roman either, he adds “There is no point in me weeping or moaning, or seeking blame. I have to find a solution, and that is what I will do.”

But he’s not done yet, because he obviously recognises the need to have the supporters onside as well, so his message to them is “It’s clear that dropping points at home does not help at all. We have lost 14, but had we taken just five or six of those we’d now have a good lead at the top. Our fans are not happy, and nor can they be. But they have to understand that the players have given their all – they don’t want to lose or draw matches. But sometimes we don’t have the quality to win.”

Another shrewd statement there, publicly absolving the players of blame in order to keep their support as well. So all in all, some very clever words with a very obvious message – if he’s not given any money and we crash and burn – he’s in no way to blame.